Europe - “When the call came to make a Michael Jackson show, I knew immediately: that's exactly what I wanted,” says lighting designer Marcus Krömer "Beat it! is a show inspired by the life and career of Michael Jackson, from his first steps with the Jackson 5 until his death,” he said. “The entire production is characterised by great respect for the artist and his work, but at the same time is not a tribute-show. Rather, we wanted to present his show and his music in a modern context, but still remain authentic,” states Krömer, outlining the idea behind the production. Also, the fact that this could not be achieved without a large slice of rock 'n roll was made clear to the Beat It! team. "Paul Happ, our programmer, and I worked a lot with his music and found so many details and little things that we all wanted to work out,” the designer adds, describing the initial approach to what became a rousing show. It was also clear that while modern production would not work without the use of LED lights, the result should by no means look like modern lighting technology. "That would have been a break in style and we wanted to stay as authentic as possible. Of course, there are LED walls in the background, some even moving. But in the context of the show, they are deployed to not look like the typical video wall in the stage background. However, from the very beginning there was a wish for some renderings to be projected with some songs and an agreement was made early on between the light and video department." Similarly, Krömer also used the new GLP impression FR1, with which he explicitly highlights the aforementioned LED walls and the scenery. "We were looking for some eye candy, little eye-catchers that would liven up the set and never let it die. The lamps had to be small, nimble and flexible and that's where the impression FR1 immediately came to mind.” The lively and energetic tribute to the King of Pop, produced by COFO Entertainment and directed by Andreana Clemenz, lasts a good two hours and is currently touring Germany, Switzerland and Austria until the end of April 2019. "It does not get boring for a moment because there is always something moving, the scenery changes and something always happens somewhere," the designer says. (Jim Evans)